right to know

Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act has been on the books for nearly 40 years. A couple of generations of public servants have been operating under its provisions. Yet after decades of illumination by the state’s Sunshine Laws, our elected and appointed representatives in government continue to wander into the shadows, where they stumble over provisions of the act that should be well known to everyone by now.

When the legislature passed a law last year that shielded from public view the crime scene photos from the 12/14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, lawmakers were standing in line to express their solidarity with the people of Newtown. They wanted to stand with us in our grief and our resolve to resist sensationalist exploitation of the horrific tragedy that shook this town and shocked the world. Now we are seeing signs that political fidelity in Hartford has a limited shelf life.